Improvement in raising and lowering carriage-tops



UNITED STATEs PATENT OFFICE.

I GEORGE STOVER, OF CENTRE HILL, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAISING AND LOWERING CARRIAGE-TOPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 59,285 dated October 30, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE STOVER, of Centre Hill, in the county of Centre and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manner of Raising and Lowering Buggy or Carriage- Tops; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which Figure 1 represents, in section, the buggytop as up. Fig. 2 represents, in section, the top as half down. Fig. 3 represents, in section, the top as entirely down. Figs. 4 and 5 represent a modification of the device as applied to carriage-tops.

Similar letters of reference, where they occur in the separate figures, denote like parts in all the drawings.

My invention consists in a peculiar arrangement of mechanism on the inside of the top by which the top may be raised up, let half down, or entirely down, and held in either position, as the case may be, and without the use of the ordinary outside arms, joints, &c.

To enable others skilled in-the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the same with reference to the drawmgs.

A represents an arm permanently attached to one end of the seat, there beingacorresponding one on the other end thereof. To these arms are pivoted, at a, first, a metallic arc, B, and, secondly, the metal strips 1) b b, attached to the bows O O C, respectively. There isa spring-catch, c, on each of the arms A, that takes into a recess, 01, on the rear end of the arc B, and when said spring is in the recess the top D is up and held up, as shown in Fig. 1. There is also a spring-catch, 0, upon the front of the are, which receives the guide f on the front one of the series of bows, and holds said how firmly atthat position, and when soheld, and the arc is detached fro-m the arm A and dropped back, then the top will behalf down, as shownin' Fig. 2; and when in this half-down position it is only-necessary to press the spring-catch 0, so as to'release the guide-piece f, and the top will drop down to the position shown in Fig. 3; and all these manipulations may be done by the person occupying the seat of the buggy, and without rising or any exertion.

When the top is in the position shown in Fig. 3, by taking hold of the front bow it can be raised up to the position shown in Fig. 2,

the guides f slipping on the arc B until the front one of the guides arrives at the springcatoh e, where it is caught and held and if it is desirable to raise the top entirely up the motion can be continued, and then the arc B itself moves on its pivot at until the top is fully up, when the spring-catch 0 again drops into the recess 0?, where-it is permanently held.

Thus the arc and the bows can move together, or the three bows O O C may move independent of the are. The rear bow, O, is attached to a rib of thearc, and, consequently,

can only move with the arc.

Figs. 4 and 5 show how this hinged arc and rigid arm with a suitable spring-catch may be applied to carriages where the top is not an entire but only ahalf falling top. In this case the bows of the top would be fastened immediately to the radial arms of the are, instead 'of being hinged independent of the arc, as in the other figures, and thus the invention can be applied to whole or half falling tops, as may be desired. 7

Having thus fully described my invention, 

